sources for sitka panels ? north hudson?

[Ron Nossaman]

>Ain,t life interesting.All that O.C.D.(obsessive compulsive disorder.)ing
>and some rookie shoots your theorys out the window with a little casual
>info.

Hi Dale, Nah, the theories are still workable, only the stiffness ranges
change. Something's always sneaking up on me.


> he also uses the N.H.
>rib stock so I,m guessing its doing the job ,but it is a softer wood than
>sitka I do contend that the sound of sitka is subtley different .

Could be, it would be hard to tell without side by side comparisons.
There's very likely enough overlap in physical characteristics from sample
to sample between spruce species to blur the differences too. Ah well, I'm
still in the spruces.


>Keep an
>eye on the quartererness of these panels .The B had 4or5 pieces that were 45
>degrees off the quarter ooops .In fairness the rest were nice but the
>individual pieces were all a little narrow i.e.2 an half or up to 3 inch.

With decent wood being harder to get all the time, I don't see his getting
any better. Given the size of the trees still available, wider planks with
close quartered grain angles are mostly already gone. I'm told that 3-4"
planks are a pretty ideal width anyway for stability. I haven't gotten too
excited about ring angles down to 45°. At the risk of uttering heresy, I'm
not all that convinced that absolutely vertical grain is all that critical
in a rib crowned assembly, since the panel isn't under the compressive
abuse of a compression crowned system. I don't recall a correlation between
ring angles and cracking in old boards either, but I wasn't looking to make
a case, so there may be. I have noticed a rather dramatic correlation
between cracking and non parallel long grain at plank joints.


>Wonderful sounding stuff.they have a good supplier of raw sitka.I
>think I,ll inquire again as to availability.I can supply the no. if you
>wish.
>Best DaleErwin from Sunny calif. and 63 degrees

Sure, when you get a minute. <G>
Best,


Ron N